An Event Designed for Education & Communication

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will host a Science Café on autism on October 3 at the Community Arts Center on the Perkinston Campus. The event will begin at 6 p.m. and will feature a discussion led by Tina Batio, lead teacher with The University of Southern Mississippi’s Autism Project. She will explore what autism is, what it isn’t and treatment options.

Prior to moving to the Gulf Coast, Tina was a clinician with the University of Florida’s Division of Developmental Pediatrics. She consulted with families who were newly diagnosed with autism while conducting autism screenings and providing family support relating to the management of autism and other related disabilities. Batio was also a special education teacher in the states of Illinois and Arizona in both the self-contained and resource setting. She is currently working on her doctorate in education in organizational leadership with a concentration in behavioral health. She holds a master’s degree in special education with a learning behavior specialist licensure from the state of Illinois.

Science Café on the Coast is a collaboration of The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Library, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Harrison County Library System, Long Beach Public Library and Hancock County Library System. It welcomes people who may or may not typically get involved with scientific discussions. Science cafés are not exclusive club meetings for scientists and science majors, nor do they take place exclusively in lecture halls or science museums. The cafés are not long lectures with a passive audience listening to an expert. Rather, they are dynamic, two-way interactions between a scientist and the public. In this way, the public feels empowered to learn, and the scientist speaker gains valuable perspective on his or her own work.

The event is open to the public, and light refreshments will be provided. For additional information about the MGCCC Science Café, 601.928.6259 or pklibrary@mgccc.edu.

Interested in joining events like this? Learn more about enrolling at MGCCC.